A Simple Spring Card Tutorial

Ah, springtime – the season of new beginnings! The days are getting longer and when it comes to crafting, what better way to show your appreciation than by creating a fun, festive card? This simple tutorial will show you all the basics of card making so that even absolute beginners can follow along. Get ready to learn some basic techniques of paper folding and work with an array of lovely card designs. Join us as we show you how to make your sping-themed greeting card in this step-by-step tutorial using easy supplies that anyone can find at home!

• Spring Time Clear Stamp Set
• Free Cricut File - Spring Time
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• Black Pigment Ink Pad
• White Cardstock
• Art Markers or Colored Pencils
• Craft Paper of Choice: Colors, Patterns, and Designs
• Glue
• Scissors or Cricut
• Envelope

• Cricut Machine For Stamp Cutouts
• Prismacolor Alcohol-Based Markers
• 3-D Styrofoam Dots
• Pearl Embellishment Dots
• Tweezers
• Bone Folder
• Address Stamp

To get started, gather all of your materials so that you have them accessible. If you have a Cricut machine, use the Spring Time Free Cricut Files to cut out your stamped images.

If you do not have a cricut machine, place your white card stock onto a craft mat to protect your surface. Now, it's time to ink your stamp. In this project, we are using black pigment ink. Stamp all the designs you want to use on the sheet of white card stock. Be sure to space out the stamped impressions so you can cut around them later.

Using clear stamps is easy, peel your stamp from its backing sheet and place it onto an acrylic stamp block. The photopolymer is slightly tacky, so your stamp can easily stick and be removed from your acrylic block.

Once you have your stamped images ready to go, let's turn our attention to assembling the base of our card. Select your craft paper and cut your card to size if needed. We are working with a 5x7 folded card size. Then layer your craft paper on top, adding a border and visual frame to your card.

Tip: Use a bone folder to get an even, crisp fold to your cards.

Now it's time to add color to your stamped impressions! For this project, we used alcohol-based art markers to fill, shade, and blend; however, you can use your medium of choice.

Tip: If you are just getting started, basic markers and colored pencils will still get the job done. Using basic art supplies allows you to practice at a low initial investment and you likley have some supplies laying around from a past project or items you have used with your kiddos or other family members.

Important notes for stamp coloring:

• Test your color on part of the paper you are not using, like a top or bottom corner.
• Start with your base color, or the main color of your object or animal, and add shading from there.

Next, we will be adding our colored stamped images to our card.

Tip: Before gluing any pieces down, place them lose onto your card until you decide on a final design!

Once you are happy with your card design, glue your stamps down. You can also use 3D foam dots to create dimension and layers to your card.

This is an optional step, but you can get creative with adhesive gems, pearls, ribbon, stickers, washi tape, twine or string, and so much more! We added some pearl dots to add extra detail to our card. See what embellishments you already have laying around and add your creative touch!